Advancing to the knock-out stages will be an achievement for African teams
It says a lot about where Africa’s national teams are that no respected observer is even suggesting that a team from the continent will finally get to lift the Jules Rimet trophy at the end of the 22nd edition of the World Cup that started in Qatar on Sunday.
Instead the main aim would be to see which country manages to get past the first round, particularly after the five African representatives at the 2018 tournament in Russia failed to clear even that hurdle.
With Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) having raised the bar by reaching the last eight, the failure of Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Egypt to progress to the knockout stages four years ago represented a huge backward step for African football. It was after all the first time since the 1982 World Cup in Spain that the competition had no African flavour in the knockout stages.
Before the devastating news broke that talisman Sadio Mane would be missing the tournament through injury, Senegal was widely touted as the team that would push the envelope and make World Cup history by either becoming the first nation to reach the last eight twice or even breaking through the quarterfinal ceiling.
The loss of Mane is similar to that of Argentina sans Lionel Messi and Portugal being defanged by the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo, when both greats were in their prime.
Not since George Weah’s coronation in 1995 has an African footballer finished in the top two of the Ballon d’Or, which provides a stark illustration of how big the Bayern Munich star’s boots will be to fill.
Not only is Mane Senegal’s top scorer with 34 goals, he also netted the winning penalties in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations final and in the World Cup playoff match, with Egypt being on the wrong end of postmatch shoot-outs both times.
Watford forward Ismaila Sarr and Alanyaspor striker Famara Diedhiou, with 10 international goals each, are the next highest scorers in the Teranga Lions squad, while the scoring burden will also fall on Salernitana’s Boulaye Dia. But as they showed in their 2-0 defeat in their opening game against the Netherlands on Monday, Senegal’s attack without Mane is not quite sharp enough to nudge them over the line in tight games and that will put paid to their hopes of still experiencing the heat of Qatar when the latter stages of the tournament arrive.
Despite their setback against the Oranje, Aliou Cisse’s boys will still fancy their chances of progressing to the next round. Next Tuesday’s last group game against Ecuador is already shaping up as the decider to determine who will join Louis van Gaal’s team in the second round. A possible meeting with England, the likely group B winners, in the last 16 is a tantalising possibility for Senegal as Group A runners-up.
What about Africa’s four other representatives in Qatar? Ghana, who reached the quarterfinals before being cruelly and controversially eliminated by Uruguay on a penalty shoot-out at the FNB Stadium in 2010, are wellplaced to secure a second round spot. The appointment of former midfielder Otto Addo, who is also on the coaching staff of Borussia Dortmund, has sparked a revival at the Black Stars in which they elbowed aside the more fancied Super Eagles of Nigeria in the playoffs.
The availability, thanks to nationality changes of Brighton defender Tariq Lamptey and Athletic Bilbao striker Inaki Williams, adds quality to Addo’s side that already has the exciting Ajax striker Mohammed Kudus, the Ayew brothers Andre and Jordan, Arsenal’s Thomas Partey and the talented 18year-old Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, who has been starring for Sporting Lisbon.
With Portugal favoured to top the group, Ghana will fancy their chances against South Korea and nothing would give them greater satisfaction than eliminating Uruguay when they clash in their last group game on December 2. What’s more, the presence of Luis Suarez, Ghana’s bete noire, in the La Celeste squad should spice up what already promises to be a lively clash.
Morocco have been boosted by the return of star midfielder Hakim Ziyech who has made himself available again after the firing of Vahid Halilhodzic as coach. The Atlas Lions have a solid three-man backline protecting the excellent Seville goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, while Achraf Hakimi, Sofiane Boufal and Youssef En-Nesyri are all potential match-winners.
The Atlas Lions do have to negotiate a tough group that includes a talent-laden Belgium, Croatia, who have lost only one of their last 15 internationals, and Canada, who return to the World Cup after a 36-year absence. The North Africans would do well to progress to the second round, a feat they have achieved only once in five previous World Cup appearances.
For Cameroon and Tunisia, things look a lot more complicated. The Indomitable Lions, who are back at the World Cup for an African record eighth time, will be desperate to improve their underwhelming statistic of just one victory against Saudi Arabia in 2002 — since reaching the quarterfinals against all odds at Italia 1990. This time they could once again struggle to secure a win in a group that features five-time champions and perennial favourites Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland.
Similarly, the Carthage Eagles will struggle to progress from a group that includes France and Denmark. The North Africans, who registered the first win by an African side at the World Cup when they beat Mexico in 1978, have managed one win in the 14 games they’ve played at the tournament since then — a 2-1 won over Panama four years ago.
Their game against Australia on Saturday may be their best chance of registering a third win at the World Cup.